CodeMonkey

Without even seeing them in camp much less anything else, I'm not ready to put numbers on the upcoming season. But I expect Kolb to start, the new WRs to improve during the season, and coaching to improve on both sides of the ball. I expect this to be a rebuilding year where the team improves every week, then 2014 I want to see the baby.

WRs generally need a year to figure out the NFL as well. I expect improvement this season, but expect 2014 to be the season we see the big improvement in the offense.

No, It's just that Manuel is a Bill and Smith is not. That's all. Had the Bills taken Smith the same thread would be here only praising Smith and pissing on some other QB in the draft. Probably Nassib. More likely fall of 2014.

The trade down worked out perfectly. A+ QB, LB, and WR(2) addressed. All positions of great need. A+ I don't follow college ball at all, but based on what I have read Manuel sounds like a bit of a reach. When we play the Jets in 2014 (with Geno) I guess we will start to see first hand which FO was right. Overall I am very pleased with this draft.

I think that's probably more the 2014 season. I see Kolb playing this season while Manuel gets coached up, the coaching staff gels, and the new WRs figure out the NFL. Then in 2014 we see the improved Bills.

Yeah GFs are great. I gotta get one of those.

And 2 picks in the 2nd today I believe.

Damn, dude has been in the NFL less than 24 hours and he is a bust already. I'm always the last to get the memo.

Well, maybe a conditional 6th that turns into a 5th depending upon her performance She's a keeper based on her Vick comment alone.

In the presser after the pick Nix and Marrone both referred to Manuel as a project. Nix even used that word. I think it will be Kolb this season while Marrone works on his project.

In the presser right after Marrone looked visibly annoyed. Not sure if it was the pick or the dumbass questions being asked by the press that caused the annoyance though.

It was pretty funny in my house last night. When the Bills went on the clock at #8 my kids all threatened to renounce their Bills fandom if Nix did not take Geno. When the Bills traded back they were worried, but accepting because of the extra 2nd. When #16 came around and Geno was still on the board they were high fiving each other and singing the praises of Nix for working the draft so perfectly, sure the Bills would take him at #16. When King Roger announced Manuel they all sat down at the same time with open mouths in disbelief. I will find out tonight if my house has 3 fewer Bills fans or not, but it was interesting and fun to see them so wrapped up with a Bills draft pick

I watched a presser shortly after the pick with Nix and Marrone and they both were saying they saw Manuel as somewhat of a project. Nix even used that word once. Statements like "plenty of things to correct", but also "has all the tools". They played it perfectly. Got the guy they wanted and picked up an extra 2nd as well.

I sure do. It's one of the few guaranteed sex nights of the year (But I stall until after the Bills first pick which is all I want to see anyway )

"Let me change the channel and you will get sex later."

"Buuuuuurp". From the beer.

You give NFL GMs far too much credit. The only "smokescreens" going up are from media idiots trying to pretend they have inside information.

More likely just another idiot pretending that he knows something. There are only a few people that know what the Bills or any other team are thinking until later tonight. None of them work for the media.

It is pretty easy to conceive actually. What Americans call soccer, and the rest of the world calls football, is by far the most popular sport in the world. I'm not sure there is even a close second, and if there is it certainly is not tackle football. More and more kids are playing soccer now in the US. In fact in my area baseball diamonds are being torn up and replaced with soccer fields due to the increase in participation in soccer and decrease in baseball. As these kids grow up with soccer, and fewer with football, as a sport they participated in then footballs popularity will inevitably decrease. Tackle football has been a mainstay in America for a very long time, and it has withstood the external pressures from soccer up to this point. But the change is happening, albeit at a fairly slow pace. I think talking about footballs "demise" is premature to be sure. But to think it will not and can not decline and lose it's place as the #1 sport in America is thinking more with your heart than your head in my opinion.

I couldn't possibly disagree more. Graham makes a huge leap here that the hiring of Marrone was a package deal with Nassib. But if indeed there was some kind of package deal, then it is because Marrone absolutely believes that Nassib is that talented. Grahams entire thought process in this blog entry just seems flawed to me.

Participation in youth football is already shrinking in some parts of the country, apparently more in the northern states than the southern. I can see that trend continuing. I don't see participation falling off in states like Texas for example for quite a long time, if ever. Some parents as well as the kids themselves see that there is equal opportunity for a college scholarship playing sports that have a much lower risk of a reduced quality of life. Areas of the country where football is ubiquitous like Texas and is firmly engrained in the culture will continue to play and provide the bodies for college and the NFL for a long time to come. But I can imagine a time in the fairly distant future where tackle football is not the most popular sport in the entire US. I didn't see any one place that listed it out, but there are plenty of articles like this one: http://highschoolsports.mlive.com/news/article/-7107599088395241927/football-participation-numbers-decline-69-percent-but-why/

I believe this to be the case as well. They don't have infinite time on the clock so having specific parameters defined beforehand as much as possible would be a big help. Also the relationship aspect is key. All it would take is you !@#$ing another GM over one time for your reputation, and your ability to make any future deals, to go right into the toilet.

That could very well be. But I did not know thing one about Gilmore at that time and was just going by his body language.

I remember watching the first round last year and when they had Gilmore on camera getting the call from the Bills he certainly did not have the face of a happy man

Actually a lot, probably most in my opinion, of Bills fans want Nix to say exactly what he did when he hired Gailey, "We got the guy we wanted all along". Truthful kool-aid doesn't taste as sweet as the other